Warning : LONG post alert !!
Hello people 🙂
Welcome back to the weekend updates from the MomOfRS household. Nothing of much importance happened, other than me yanking the hair off my head after the twins, running around for household chores, buying grocery (which my friends wonder why the BF and BIL cant do. *Sigh* Its a long story 😦 ), tending to the granny and the twins (Nanny bunking. YET.AGAIN 😐 ) and barely getting 18 hours of sleep from Friday night to Sunday night. And whatever I did get, was broken by
1) nightmares from Lui.
2) Crying-for-his-mumma Shobs
3)Worrying about over-sleeping and not getting up in time. So between 12 in the night and 6 in the morning, I wake up at least thrice to check if my alarm was set right or not.
Anyhow, I’ll quickly (hehe, just kidding 😀 ) summarize the jam packed weekend for posterity’s sake. So one day , when I’m too old to walk across the room, I’ll sit on one corner of my bed, open my laptop, connect to the web and marvel on the days that saw me busy as a bee 😀
1) Friday evening, I caught a few snippets of the serial “Kuchh to log kahenge”. Something seemed familiar about it. I mean, surely there have been loads of doctor-doctor, doctor-nurse romances in movies and serials (that reminds me, I’m yet to see a more authentic ‘Hospital’ saga than DD’s Lifeline. Does anyone remember that? It featured Ila Arun as the dope addicted doctor). I hunted a bit of info on the serial and what did I find?! The serial’s a blatant rip-off on Dhoop-Kinare. Dhoop-Kinare !! I mean, I remember fighting for the video cassettes at our local shopping centre. The guy had a diary of people who had booked for the series in advance…it was first come, first serve. So popular was it that practically everyone knew Ahmer (Rahat Kazmi) and Zoya (Marina Khan)!! Anyone who has lived in North India in the nineties would know what I’m talking about! Its a pity that we in India can’t come up with original, block-buster tele-dramas 😦 !!
2) Since I was on the Web, I caught up with news on my favorite politician 😀 .
Did you check out the size of her statue ?! The only thing larger than that would be her ego, I guess! Inflated. There’s no other word for it! Plus, is it just me or do you too see that her statue overshadows BR Ambedkar’s and Kanshi Ram’s ?!
3) Saturday morning, I woke up early, as usual. Tended to GMIL and went about the business of cooking, cleaning and minding the twins (who believe me, are totally non-cooperative when I’m home 😐 ) The nanny came in by 11:30 and thankfully, I could take a break, have a cuppa and get dressed to meet BFS (after ages 🙄 ) and shop for groceries and stuff for GMIL. In between, I also had a show-down with the BF, where I walked out of the argument mid-way, seeing that it was leading nowhere. I really , really feel the in-laws should have sent the BF away from them for a a few years ….or maybe at least long enough for him to learn to put his clothes in the cup-board 😀 . Too many years of the MIL and GMIL doing his work has resulted in a hubby who feels deprived if his wife doesn’t put away his stuff!
4) Met BFS after a looong time. Its a pity that we get to meet so rarely, living in the same city 😦 .But we did cover up for the missing time, catching up with each other’s life, with me ranting about the BF and his lack of homely responsibilities and BFS talking about her life, job and her family. It was a time well spent and I do hope we get to meet more often now.
5) BFS accompanied me for the shopping. There are some things that are cheaper in the wholesale markets (Like diapers for the GMIL which are sold for half the MRP !!)and that was where I was headed to. I bought a load of other household stuff at the same place. Alas, the store did not have pulses or grains and I thought of buying them from a store near my place. Since it was a weekend (and close to Diwali) the shopping area was packed with people. It was with much pushing and shoving that BFS and me were able to make our way out of the lanes and towards my park. Dropped BFS halfway to her home and dangling my legs on both sides of the bike (in my defense, your honour, there was no space on the foot-rest!) I made my way home, where after briefly washing my face with cold water, I crashed out. But not for long.
6) I had a splitting head-ache because of which I got up. The nanny served me tea (bless the girl) and my eyes could finally focus. I think the heat of the day got to me. The twins wanted me to play with them, but I could barely keep my eye-lids open 😦 . Thankfully, I brightened up within an hour. Played with them for a while and then set about laying dinner for the family. The twins were in no mood to sleep, so I watched a few nursery rhymes with them on the laptop, then read them a story from the new story-book I’d purchased a while back. We finally crashed out around 12.
7) Sunday was eventful. More than I would have liked it to be. Woke up at 5 am to make breakfast parcel for the in-laws who were leaving for another town by 6. Since the FIL does not prefer bread, I made chapatis and bhindi 🙂 . By 6:30, the cook came in to make the regular chapatis for the day. By the time she was ready to leave, GML was up and I had to set up the bathroom for her ablutions. After she was in the bathroom, I cleaned up her room (alcove, actually ), made her bed and swept the house. Since GMIL takes her own sweet time in the bathroom (sometimes up to 45 minutes), I went to my room to wait for her to come out. BIG MISTAKE!!
One look at the bed and I settled on it for a while, being sleepy from waking up early. The GMIL, on her behalf, completed her wash earlier than usual and started calling out to me. Alas, I didn’t hear her. By the time I jolted out of my sleep, it was good 10 minutes in which the granny had yelled herself hoarse. Worse part was that when I did come in to help her out of the bathroom, she started sobbing 😦 . Made me feel rotten…..
8 ) Quickly made breakfast for the BF and granny. BIL had left for work early. I made lauki-curry for lunch and wrapped up my kitchen tasks. Woke the kids and did my best to get them bathed and dressed. They weren’t helping me at all 😀 . The BF, meanwhile slept through all this. And when he did wake up, he got calls from various people and had to rush out . *Sigh*…sometimes, I wonder if I’m the only one who doesn’t get to spend a Sunday the way she wants 😐
9) We had guests. An elderly couple who had come to meet the GMIL. They are relatives of the FIL. Since they came around 12:45, lunch was a must. This put me in a bit of a tizzy, since I was planning on feeding everyone the curry and chapatis. But with guests, GMIL expected us to be as gracious as possible! So in spite of the kids howling for attention, I had to rush to the kitchen and rustle up some more veggies and make rice. I’ll be honest and confess that I wasn’t a little bit glad about all the extra work 😦 . Moreover, the twins started screaming for attention and GMIL was reminding me again about serving the guests lunch, so in my harried state, I took the twins to my room and locked them in while I did my best to hasten with lunch. The lady guest came in and started chiding me on my rude behavior with the twins. Thankfully, before I could blow my top and remind her that she was the reason for this mess, the BF walked in. The twins immediately calmed down and settled down to play with him while I scurried between the hall and kitchen feeding the guests and the granny (for the record, our apartment is a joint operation on two apartments giving our flat a ‘U’ look if seen from above. So while the drawing room of one apartment has been retained for guests, the kitchen of the other is used for our regular cooking. So if someone calls from the drawing room, we cannot hear it in the kitchen. So I had to make trips between the two places to make sure the guests and granny were fed well).
10) Post lunch, I tried to put the twins down for a nap. Lui obliged, but Shobs was reluctant to sleep, acting like the energizer bunny (he is one, actually 😀 ). When he finally did doze off, so did I. I had settled the guests in the in-laws room for their siesta earlier. Couldn’t sleep much because I was worried I’d oversleep and miss out on making tea for the guests. So I bustled out, made tea, served it up with biscuits and seriously prayed that the guests leave for the day 😦 . Once they did, I settled with vegetable-sorting for the week. Once the cook came in, I asked her to make Veg-pulao and asked the BF to get curd. After the cook left, I called up the MIL to check when she would be back. MIL replied that they were close to Pune and were getting another relative along (the FIL’s sister). I could have kicked myself for not making that call before the cook left 😦 . Anyhow, since I hate wastage and had made sure the dinner was sufficient for family, I hadn’t put into consideration feeding an extra guest. Amends had to be made. Dinner had to be stretched. But how?? I thought for some time and came up with the idea of making sooji-halwa, an all time favourite with everyone at home and a filler to boot (plus, it doesn’t take that long to cook). Rustling up the dish, I realized that I’d spent more time in the kitchen that day than I had planned. Not that I don’t like cooking, but for some reason, I just want to take a break from it all….
Once the MIL was home, I served dinner and narrated my tiring tale to her. She was immediately sympathetic and ordered me to be off to bed at the soonest. I thanked her and asked the BF to mind the twins while I settled for the night.
Alas, the kids thought otherwise. So they came into the room and begged me to play with them, even as I begged them to leave me alone. The BF, oblivious to my plight, sat and watched TV with his family at the other end of the house, in the drawing room. By 11:45pm, I did think of giving him a call and yelling my heart out….but realized that the effort wasn’t worth it. I don’t particularly remember anything after that.
Monday morning, I was up and about at 6 as usual.
This has been one of the most tiring weekends ever. Somehow, I see no charm in these two days of the week, except maybe spending the time with kids. But the exhaustion I feel towards the end of it all makes me lethargic on Mondays, when I have to report back to work. BFS asked me if working was really, really important to me. And know what I answered? Yes it is. Because you see, I get to sit in one place for as long as I want . Thats the only rest I get throughout the week 😀
AND. Now that I have whined my heart out, I feel better. Much better. If you have taken the time to read till here, I thank you for being a patient audience 🙂 . Hope you all had a better weekend !
Aiyo hugs darling hugs..you are seriously GOD! I would never have done so much..I would have quit..no..not my job…the house!!
Falls at feet totally
Uh Oh!!
Looks like I over-did it again 😦
Am no God darling…… 😀 and here, please get up…this is getting a wee embarrassing 😀
You handle a job, husband, child and home ALL BY YOURSELF!! I still have back-ups. You don’t! Never forget that 😀
Oh God! I admire your patience… I dont think I would’ve lasted that long before yelling my woes on the un-invited guests! Hats off to you!!
LOL! 😀
Believe me dear, I was this close to running away myself 😀
SO much , all i did was laze around and EAT 🙂 my sister is here from India to study , I was busy with her getting her stuff and all , so she is ready to go to UNI this weekend.. Thats all I did
and Oh yes yes how can i forget let me show off too.. cut the grass-cleaned the pond and and WATCHED TELE:) yayyyyyyyyyyy
But i cant match with yours for sure and I am also of Fan oh the GREAT POLITCICIAN we need ot learn from her 🙂
Cutting grass and cleaning pond are no mean feat my friend!!
And watching television (specially the stuff dished out these days) can be rather unnerving too 🙂
You’ve had your share of weekend burden 😀
Ah the perils of an Indian Joint family. Seeing how entrenched you seem to be in there, hope you get a like minded SIL in soon 🙂
And even if what you have written down is an exaggeration just living through it as an observer can be tough on me!!
Mukund
No exaggeration this time 🙂 but yes, it was rather tedious……I feel rather good coming to office after the hectic time at home !!
I have been lurking on your page, but this post – wow! You are one superwoman! How how how do you manage to do all this so cheerfully 🙂 I wish I had a quarter of your patience and cheerful nature
Thanks for dropping by Smitha. And no, I’m no superwoman. I just have a large family, loads of responsibilities, two kids and a full-time job.
Am just doing my best to give time to everything 🙂
What can I say… really when I read about your weekends I feel rotten about myself. if we’re out or entertaining one day of the weekend I make sure I veg out on the other.. seriously veg out.. catering only to the kids, from whom there is no escape, and cooking.. that’s it. And the guests… gosh unplanned ones drive me totally NUTS. You are pretty cool.
Unplanned guests drive me crazy too…..alas, they are welcomed with warm hugs and kisses by the MIL 😦
My in-laws LOVE guests!!
😐
Gosh! What a weekend that was… Just reading it makes me dog-tired. Hats off to your patience, really.
Thank God, my MIL hates guests more than I do. She will tell anybody planning to visit us only if she is with us. Else she will tactfully talk them out of it.
Yes, office time is the only time I can take rest too. Rest of the time I am always buzzing around as a bee. This is the only respite we have!
Thats exactly the reason I hate the idea of quitting my job 😀
Phew Noor! Sounds so tiring. To me it looks like you need a change for sure.
I think guests on weekends are a given for you and so are the maids bunking.
Since you earn, you can insist on a separate maid from morning till evening only on the weekends (or pay extra to the maids if they show up on the wknd)to give you some respite and for you to be able to spend some quality time with your kids. Just my 2 cents.
Well, I did try for the extra money on weekend, but it didn’t work. As for new maids only on weekends, well, we aren’t able to find any who agrees to come on only two days. Either we employ them full-time or just call it quits.
The regular maid has a sad background……removing her would only add to her woes. As for the nanny, we did ask her to take up any other job where she gets paid more than what we pay her. We dont want her to be unemployed when we hire a new nanny. Alas, she isn’t finding a job anywhere 😦
I felt tired just by reading this
I wonder how you manage to keep the fizz.
All I can do is totally admire
at the woman who doesn’t tire. 🙂
Then you gotta see my MIL….she’s 50+ and just as busy as me 😀
You are a superwoman! After kids turn five, handling them would be easier..Hope you find the best and reliable maids! 🙂
Thanks Mukta 🙂
Hoping for it myself 😀
long time reader,but haven’t commented before.So so understand what you mean.
We live with the in-laws too and I always wonder if life would have been easier if we lived alone. weekends for me are more crazy than the weekdays what with relatives dropping in,dealing with the cooking,cleaning and running behind my son.the MIL does not believe in having a maid, so sweeping, moping,washing the vessels,dusting, washing clothes, gardening(we have a terrace garden)are all part of the weekend chores.
But it must be so much more difficult for you as you have the GMIL to take care of, 2 kids to run behind(phew!!) and a working MIL. hats off to you 🙂
No maid 😯 !!
All that house-hold work, plus child , plus in-laws!!
Goodness girl! How do you manage all that?!!
After a lot of arguments with the MIL, we managed to convince her to keep a maid last year.We had 4 maids over 8 months and each one left after the MIL accused them of stealing stuff.So we are back to no maids now.
But to be fair to the MIL, she does a lot of the work mentioned above.But if she goes off visiting relatives over long stretches/over the weekend, I end up being one cranky overworked person.But only during such periods, so it not so bad 🙂
Oh!! I can so , SO identify with what you say 😀